Night Walkers
by ASouthernRussian
Summary: Blake has a peculiar dream - and an even more peculiar visitor. My submission for the August MonCon for the /r/RWBY subreddit!


Blake was on a mission. Well, one might call it a vendetta instead, but to her, it was no different than her other tasks as a huntress. At the moment, she had stowed away in a train car, one of the many that transported the lackeys of the White Fang. This organization that she was once a part of was using this train to move some of their forces into Vale, and Blake was going to do everything in her power to prevent that.

The rattling of the train was enough to mask the light footsteps of the cat faunus as she moved through the car. As she knelt behind a stack of crates, Blake poked her amber eyes around the corner to survey the situation in front of her. Two guards – one short female deer faunus and another hulking male bear faunus – stood at the entrance to the next car, but they weren't particularly vigilant at their posts. The deer girl leaned against the wall and was looking out the window, no doubt bored with her duties, and the bear kept switching his attention from the long, dark room in front of him and his partner's bottom. More importantly, though, was the fact that their hands were nowhere near their fish.

As Blake had learned, most of the White Fang grunts were armed with mackerels, but it seems the demand from new members outpaced the supply of fish, since these two guards were armed with only tilapia. Against most of their targets – mostly unarmed humans who've never used a fish before – that would have been sufficient. _But not against me,_ Blake thought smugly as she drew out her famed twin tunas.

The guards didn't have a chance. In the moment the bear faunus turned his head to ogle the deer's posterior, the black cat surged forth from her hiding spot and hurled one of her fish straight at his head. Wet scales collided with the side of his head, slamming his temple into the metal wall and knocking him out clean. The sudden noise caught the attention of the doe, who whirled around with her tilapia in hand, but with one fluid motion of her own fish Blake disarmed her and delivered an uppercut to her chin, leaving her body to collapse lamely on the floor.

 _They really don't make them like they used to,_ Blake lamented as she retrieved her other tuna. Of course, no grunt would have ever given her any real trouble, but during her own time in the White Fang, whatever little number of members they had were very well-trained. Still, it was a good sign for the mission going as planned, and Blake went to jump onto the next car. However, she stopped to look at the two guards that she had detained. Unconscious on the ground, they looked so peaceful, like they wouldn't even hurt a fly. _How do people like them get mixed up in a mess like this?_ Blake wondered with a hint of sadness, thinking back to her own beginnings with the White Fang. Still, there was no time to pity them, and so Blake swung open the metal door and leaped onto the next car.

Once she set foot in the next dimly-lit train car, Blake kept low so as not to attract the attention of more guards, but even with her keen night vision, there was no sight of anyone in the room. _Strange, the White Fang always mans each car with at least two grunts, unless-_

Her ears twitched on instinct and Blake spun around to block the incoming barracuda attack from the shadows by the door. Which she had been successful, the blow was strong enough to break several scales off her tuna.

"I heard that Beacon was sending a huntress over to disrupt this operation," a familiar voice said calmly from the dark corner. The wielder of the long, savage fish stepped forward into the faint light of the only working lamp in the car, revealing a tall figure wearing a thin, black coat, topped with red hair and a forever stoic face poking out from under a mask. "I was hoping it might be you."

"You…" was all Blake growled before the two joined in combat. As always, he was a formidable opponent, able to read all of her moves and counter them perfectly – it was him who taught Blake how to fight, after all. Still, Blake did have a small advantage in this fight: the man's barracuda, while powerful, could prove unwieldy if swung too fast or too quickly, while her tunas were lighter and required less precision. If Blake could draw out this fight long enough, perhaps she had a chance of wearing him down and defeating him through sheer endurance.

However, an uncharacteristic smile crossed Adam's face, and he pulled out a short, curved knife from behind him. Before Blake had time to react and pull away from her swing, her opponent's new weapon became a blur of swipes, and most of her right-hand tuna lay on the floor in a perfectly fileted stack.

Blake saw the remaining tail of her fish in her hand and tossed it to the side. "Fighting with a knife nowadays, I see," she said with disdain. "You used to be an honorable fighter."

Adam snorted. "If you think this is dishonorable, then you've certainly gotten soft over the past few months. Has spending time with that Schnee awoken the servant in you?"

"Weiss is not a reflection of her family!" Blake charged at Adam more recklessly than before, intercepting his long fish with her other tuna. "And I am no servant," she added through gritted teeth.

"But you are a fool," Adam retorted as he slid the knife into her belly. _Shit, I was so angry at him that I didn't notice that he had a hand free,_ Blake thought, scolding herself as she dropped to her knees. She could barely hold back her screams of pain as the blade squirmed in her guts, but she wouldn't give this… fiend the satisfaction. Instead, she reared her head and spat at her former partner's face.

With a sigh, Adam wiped the bloodied spit off his mask and said, "I had such plans for you, but now it's time for me to put down a weak house cat." He brought the barracuda over his head, poise to execute Blake right on the spot. The girl didn't bother to struggle – this was the hand fate dealt her, and there was no escaping it. "Goodbye, Blake Belladonna."

 _WHAM_

* * *

Blake rose up from the floor, a dull yet intense pain emanating from her forehead. _Wait, pain… does that mean am I alive?_ Adam wasn't one to toy around with his prey, so she didn't understand why he didn't finish her off right then and there. _Come to think of it, where_ is _Adam?_ Once her eyes readjusted to the dark, Blake noticed that she wasn't in a train car but rather in a moonlit corridor. Instead of her usual battle attire, she wore a silk nightgown, and there was no sign of any fish, fileted or otherwise. The realization finally dawned on her: _oh, god damn it, I was sleepwalking again._ It was an old habit of hers from a long time ago, and while it wasn't particularly debilitating, Blake found it very annoying. She didn't like the idea of her body doing something outside of her control, but it was harmless most of time. _Well, except this time,_ she thought as she rubbed the sore spot on her forehead. _What could have possibly done this to me?_

Blake soon found her answer when she heard a light groan a little in front of her. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't bother to notice the girl sprawled out in front of her. As the girl rose up and rubbed her head in pain, Blake could make out a few features: long red hair, a slender yet toned figure, and emerald eyes. _Wait, that can only be one person…_ "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha must have not realized that Blake was there because her head shot up to where the voice came from and her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh dear, I am _so_ sorry!" she exclaimed, springing up and joining Blake at her side. "I didn't realize I ran into someone – are you okay? Are you hurt?" Pyrrha held the faunus's shoulders in gentle concern. It was as though she had completely forgotten about her own injury.

"I'm fine, really. I'm more surprised that I bumped into someone else in the night. I would have thought that you'd see me and wake me up."

"You were asleep? That's strange, because I was, too," Pyrrha said with some confusion, holding her chin thoughtfully. "Unless…"

Something connected for Blake. "Wait a minute, are you saying that…"

"You're a sleepwalker!" they said in unison.

After a momentary pause, the pair burst in a fit of giggles. Blake, as usual, was more reserved in her mirth, but Pyrrha was quite beside herself. "What are the chances that we would run into each other while sleepwalking?" Pyrrha asked, her laughter only slightly diminished. "I didn't even think that anyone else at Beacon did it, too!"

"That's probably because it happens when everyone else is asleep, so no one can tell you about it," Blake replied plainly but with a smile still on her lips. "Speaking of which, when _did_ you find out about it?"

"Well, I didn't run into anyone, but back when I was still at home in Mistral, before I had even thought of becoming a huntress, my parents would sometimes notice that I would fall asleep in the strangest places. They would tuck me into bed at night, but then in the mornings, they would find me dozed off in the hallway, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and once even on the stairs! I never could explain why I was where I was, so we all just figured that I must have been sleepwalking." "What about you? When did you find out?"

As nice as she thought Pyrrha was, Blake still was uncomfortable discussing her past with anyone, even something as trivial as her sleeping habits. Her body tensed up as she tried to think of the most plausible lie to feed Pyrrha – she must have not been subtle about it, as Pyrrha immediately picked up on it. "Oh, right! It's… probably something you can't talk about," she said quickly, clearly embarrassed by her actions. "I'm sorry, forget I ever asked."

Blake hid a snicker behind her hand. _No, she may be the champion of Mistral, but this girl couldn't even hurt a fly without apologizing._ If there was anyone with whom she was willing to share her past, it would be Pyrrha. "No, really, it's fine," she said, laying a comforting hand on her arm. "I can talk about it." Returning an eager smile, Pyrrha crossed her legs and rested her head on her hands – she almost looked like a kid ready to hear a bedtime story. _Well, this is a story and it's well past bedtime, so I suppose this counts,_ Blake mused before continuing.

"When I was little, I didn't have any parents. I was just a street urchin, living with other poor faunus like myself. Conditions were bad then, but it was worse for me, since wherever I feel asleep wasn't always where I found myself in the mornings. Sometimes it got me in trouble, but I'm still here, so it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Still, waking up to some fat, angry human was never a great way to start the day."

"Oh, wow, that's… wow." Pyrrha's reaction was understandable. Blake didn't expect most people to know of the true faunus plight, even someone as kind as Pyrrha was. Nevertheless, there was a sympathy in her voice that soothed her.

"Alright, now that I've shared my little story, time for you to share yours."

Pyrrha seemed a little puzzled. "But I already told you; I found out because of my parents."

"I meant your dream."

"W-what?!" she blurted out. "I… I'm not sure I want to talk about it."

"Why, was it painful?"

"No, just… I felt strangely about it. It shouldn't have been strange, but it was, and I don't know how to feel about it."

"I don't either," Blake said smugly. "Though if I had to guess, it's something involving Jaune, isn't it?"

"W-why would you think that? Jaune is my partner, so naturally, I think about him a lot! And dreams are just like another way for the mind to think, so it's not too strange for him to be in my dreams." Pyrrha say the smug expression on Blake's face and realized just what she said. Even in the dark, Blake could see her face flush red as Pyrrha tried to cover her face. "Oh dear, I just said it out loud, didn't I?"

"That you did."

Pyrrha sighed and straightened herself out after taking a deep breath. "Alright, I'll tell you about it. _But don't tell anyone else!_ "

Blake zipped her fingers across her lips and tossed the imaginary zipper off to the side. "My lips are sealed. So, what is this strange-not-strange dream of yours?"

"Well… it was a normal morning at Beacon, except that I somehow had slept in, which I almost never do. Anyway, I felt someone shaking me awake, but I didn't want to get up – the bed was so warm, and once, just once, I wanted to take a little extra time in the day to just lay there and do nothing. However, the hand that touched my cheek was warmer and more comforting than any bed I've ever slept in."

At this point, Blake shifted in her seat, anticipating some juicy details soon to come. "I open my eyes, and there was Jaune, leaning over me with that goofy and cute smile. Jaune told me that even if I looked good resting in bed, we couldn't miss class because of it. At that moment, I noticed that everyone was already fully dressed and ready to go, but they were all waiting for me – they wouldn't leave without me. I rolled out of bed in my nightgown, took Jaune's hand, and thanks them all for being such good teammates. And that's right when I bumped into you."

Pyrrha's conclusion visibly caught Blake off guard. "What, that's all?" she asked. "That sounds like a normal, pleasant dream to me, nothing strange at all. Aside from Jaune being romantic with you, thought that was a nice touch."

"No, don't get me wrong, it felt great, but there's one detail I've left out: Jaune was a girl in my dream."

Blake took a moment to process this before responding. "Ah, so you feel weird because you had feelings for a girl in a dream?" She could have pressed more questions, but Blake knew that Pyrrha wanted her space on this one.

"Well, I know that I have feelings for Jaune," Pyrrha said, taking a moment to pause afterward. Blake guessed that she never said that out loud to anyone. "But seeing him as a girl, I thought something might be different in the way I felt about her. Regular Jaune and girl Jaune look differently enough, sure, and yet I was still very much attracted to her… I mean him!" Pyrrha buried her face in her hands. Blake wanted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she held back, sensing that Pyrrha still had something to say. "This is all so confusing. I keep trying to ask myself which one I liked more, and I just couldn't say; they both were cute."

Suddenly, a panicking Pyrrha looked Blake right in the eyes and asked, "Blake, am I bi?"

Blake stifled a laugh before answering Pyrrha's question. "Pyrrha, I think you're looking at this the wrong way," she stated plainly but warmly. "You think you're weird for liking a guy and a girl, but both of them are Jaune. That means that you like him for who he is to you, not just his appearance or his sex. If anything, that just reaffirms your love for him."

Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably upon hearing the L word. "Love… do I love Jaune?"

"I can't tell you that, but it sure looks like it." Blake noticed that Pyrrha was rolling this idea around in her mind – _god, she's going to start overthinking this if I don't do something_. "Anyway, it's too late in the night for you to wrack your brain over something like sexuality. The both of us probably could use some sleep, even if it's only three or four hours of it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Pyrrha replied with a quick laugh. "We have classes tomorrow – well, I suppose I should say 'today' at this point."

Blake returned the laugh. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Well, good night, Pyrrha." Blake turned around to start finding her way back to her room, but something was tugging on her arm. She looked back in surprise to see Pyrrha walk up to her and wrap her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Thank you for hearing me out, Blake," she said softly. Blake took a moment to take in what was going on, but she soon returned the hug.

"Of course, Pyrrha," was all Blake could say. She wasn't entirely sure how to respond to this.

"It was good to talk with you. We should do it more often." Blake could hear the smile in her voice. Pyrrha had a lot of friends at Beacon, but something in the way she said those words make Blake feel a little more special to her. Perhaps she was just sleepy, but whatever it was, she felt good.

"That would be nice," Blake responded happily.

With that, Pyrrha let go of her and turned to make her way back down the hall. "Good night, Blake."

"Sweet dreams," Blake said with a wave, to which Pyrrha stopped and pivoted back to face her.

"Hold on, you never told me about your dream! What was it about?"

Blake gave a light chuckle. "I guess I'll tell you tomorrow over tea, then." And with that, the two girls smiled and returned to their rooms and the comfort of their own beds. What little sleep remained for them that night was dreamless, but no less satisfying.


End file.
